# 2D polls? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 2, 2011, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462 "2011-05-02T08:44:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/1 "2011-05-02T08:44:25Z")
Is there any way to make the board software support “2D” polls? Anyone want to take this on as a project, maybe on one of the SDMB spin-off boards first? I’ve never actually come across this online, but being able to observe correlations is _wayyyy_ more interesting than populating a single biased distribution. As a simple example, consider this poll: \*\*Select your age range: a) 0-10 b) 11-15 c) 16-21 d) 22-30 e) 31-45 f) 46-60 g) 60+ Do you own a car? a) yes b) no \*\* The second question on its own is useless. There will be some ratio of “yes” to “no”, but there’s no way to control for anything of interest. With the first question answered at the same time, we would get a sense of when people start buying cars. Of course, this is a silly example. One could think of countless correlations of interest. Certainly, you can’t control for everything with only two variables, but you can do _so much more_ with two than you can with just one. The data would be presented as a matrix of numbers (totals and/or percentages), in analogy with the bar graphs for the one-variable polls. Anyway, I think that’d be pretty fun to have. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/2 "2011-05-02T08:52:58Z")
Well, there’s always this hack: a) 0-10 yes b) 11-15 yes c) 16-21 yes d) 22-30 yes e) 31-45 yes f) 46-60 yes g) 60+ yes h) 0-10 no i) 11-15 no j) 16-21 no k) 22-30 no l) 31-45 no m) 46-60 no n) 60+ no That said, I like the “2D Poll” idea. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/3 "2011-05-02T11:55:32Z")
Another vote for “like the idea.” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/4 "2011-05-02T14:18:38Z")
I don’t think V Bulletin offers this type of polling, which would make the answer “no,” since Jerry is reluctant to load hacks. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/5 "2011-05-02T14:33:41Z")
Every time I’ve tried to put 2 or more Q’s into one poll, some people will invariably goof it up. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/6 "2011-05-02T17:09:55Z")
I did this once by using a poll where you can have mutiple answers, so: a) 0-10 b) 11-15 c) 16-21 d) 22-30 e) 31-45 f) 46-60 g) 60+ h) yes, I have a car i) no, I don’t It takes a little trust in the masses… > **[Dexter: The End](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=590336)** > > Please vote once for how you think the series should end (picking an answer that starts “Dexter should”) and once for how you think the series will end (picking an answer that starts “Dexter will”). So one is your preference, the other is your guess... ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/7 "2011-05-02T17:23:09Z")
[carnac] I hold in my hand the last envelope. Answer: 2D polls. Question: Where are Canadians headed today? [/carnac] ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/8 "2011-05-02T18:52:49Z")
_golf clap_ ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/9 "2011-05-02T22:46:08Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > I did this once by using a poll where you can have mutiple answers… But that doesn’t graph the two variables against each other. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2d-polls/580462/10 "2011-05-03T00:14:15Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > But that doesn’t graph the two variables against each other. No, that requires looking at the poll results (w/ a public poll, so you can see who voted for what) and then importing to Excel using text to columns or some such.